Match Report

Sutton bounced back from the shock of conceding two goals inside ten minutes to maintain an unbeaten record after the first week of action in the Vanarama National League. Playing with a strong wind on their backs in the second half, Sutton might have expected to go on and win the game when Rob Milsom brought them level nine minutes in to the second half, but they weren’t able to make the most of some promising positions and, in the last ten minutes, had to make sure they didn’t concede to a Chorley attack livened by the introduction of substitute N’Tumba Massanka with half an hour to go.

Playing in to the wind in the first half Sutton would have expected to be under some pressure, but the nature of the goals they quickly conceded was a disappointment, as Matt Gray admitted afterwards. Having watched goalless draws in each of their first two games, Chorley supporters saw their duck broken in front of them as Courtney Meppen-Walters climbed to power home a header from Adam Blakeman’s corner, and three minutes later U’s allowed Meppen-Walters to do exactly the same from another Blakeman corner, except that this time the ball hit the bar and Chris Holroyd scrambled home the rebound.

Crucially, Sutton had halved the deficit within four minutes, Aaron Jarvis heading the ball down looking for Omar Bugiel, starting for the first time in the league as U’s went with a 4-4-2 formation, and although a defender got there first he could only direct the ball back to Jarvis, who drove a low shot in to the far corner. Jamie Butler did well to hold an awkwardly bouncing shot from Blakeman, but It was U’s who came closest to a goal before the break as Joe Anyon turned a Bugiel shot round the post, and they also had loud appeals for a penalty waved away when Bugiel seemed to receive a hefty shove in the back.

The size of Chorley’s task in preserving their narrow advantage in to the wind was suggested inside the first twenty seconds of the second half when Anyon sliced a clearance that blew behind him for a corner, and the keeper soon had to dive to his right to push away a wickedly inswinging free kick from Milsom, no-one from Sutton in place to pick up the rebound, but when Harry Beautyman was fouled 30 yards out in a more central position, Milsom this time aimed his free kick right in the corner of the net and Anyon was unable to keep it out.

At that stage the game seemed to be there for the taking for U’s, but despite a lot of the ball they struggled to create clear chances, Jon Barden shooting just over and Ben Goodliffe heading on to the top of the net from a Will Randall free kick. David Ajiboye, on for the last eight minutes, almost created a late winner with a darting run and cross which was scrambled away, but the biggest attacking threat came from Massanka, who within two minutes of coming down had seen one run ended by a wild tackle from Goodliffe that might easily have resulted in a red, rather than yellow, card, and who caused several moments of anxiety for the U’s defence, Josh O’Keefe heading over at full stretch from one cross.

Chorley: J Anyon, M Challoner, A Blakeman, A Teague, L Baines, C Meppen-Walters, A Newby(sub J Cottrell 78), J O’Keefe, M Carver, C Holroyd (sub N Massanka 58), E Newby(sub L Dodds 68). Subs n/u M Ross, J Hooper.